The American airborne troops held the town of Ste. Mere-Eglise, but only barely. Pre-invasion planning called for the perimeter to be expanded as soon as possible. The arrival of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division's 8th Regiment allowed an advance to the north against what appeared to be the strongest German presence in the area.

Conclusion

The German defenders proved a tough nut to crack, but by the end of the afternoon the Yanks drove them north making Ste. Mere-Eglise safe. Crew-men of the 746th Tank Battalion could claim much of the credit for the ease with which this was done. Further advances would come at a much greater cost.

Additional Notes

Map is available in Airborne, Airborne-IE, Airborne remastered (print edition) or the Woods & Hill accessory. Board 13 is also known as board 0201.

This scenario appears in Airborne/Airborne-IE and is playable with those components.

Display Relevant AFV Rules

AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle

Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0).

AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8).
They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank
leader in order to carry out combat movement.

Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn
(either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more
(11.2).

Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its
printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3)

Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire
(7.44, 7.64).
Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire,
but not both (7.22, 13.0).
Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0).

Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3).

Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3).

Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT).

Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)

Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable

Display Order of Battle

Germany Order of Battle

Heer

Foot

Leader

Towed

United States Order of Battle

Airborne

Foot

Army

Foot

Leader

Mechanized

Display Errata (1)

1 Errata Item

The reduced direct fire value of the Heer HMG became 5-5 starting with Fall of France.

The USParatroops with tanks and additional support from the 4th Infantry need to take the area around St Mere Eglise and keep casualties to under 8 steps, which for this scenario includes leaders. With the Germans having built a semi-circular front around the town, the paras and their tanks went right at the target, killing the German 75mm AT gun fairly early. And the attack bogged down as quickly, with the paras losing nearly double the points by turn 6, including 4 steps at tanks and 2 officers. The Germans were holding the target town and most of their line with just 4 steps lost and more than enough time to fall back in the east to keep the line intact and replace losses. With the backbone of the attack broken, the US commanders called the troops to fall back, and live to fight another day. Good game.